Hygienic Toilet Seat and Lid Assembly

ABSTRACT

A toilet seat and toilet lid assembly is provided which prevents bodily waste from undesirably exiting flushing toilets and contaminating surrounding areas and surfaces. More particularly, the assembly comprises an annular toilet seat and a lid, hingedly attached to the seat. An underside of the lid is configured to closely mate with the opening formed in the seat. Prior to flushing a toilet, a user may pivotally close the assembly, which may be secured over a toilet bowl. When closed, a male protrusion in the lid may be closely mated with the opening in the seat to prevent contaminants within the toilet bowl from exiting such bowl when activating the toilet&#39;s flushing capability agitates water and waste contained therein.

GOVERNMENT CONTRACT

Not applicable.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable.

STATEMENT RE. FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH/DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

COPYRIGHT & TRADEMARK NOTICES

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document may contain materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. This patent document may showand/or describe matter which is or may become trade dress of the owner.The copyright and trade dress owner has no objection to the facsimilereproduction by any one of the patent document or the patent disclosure,as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files orrecords, but otherwise reserves all copyrights and trade dress rightswhatsoever.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed subject matter relates generally to hygienic solutions fortoilet seats and, more particularly, to means for containing debris andaerosolized biological waste within a toilet bowl.

BACKGROUND

Some toilets and toilet seats may be considered to be dangerouslyunhygienic due to the fact that the biological waste they periodicallycontain, especially fecal matter, itself contains and even transmitscertain, often antibiotic-resistant, bacteria including, for example,methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), extended spectrumbeta-lactamase (ESBL) E. coli, vancomycin resistant enterococcus (VRE),as well as other pathogens such as norovirus. Indeed, sanitationconcerns extend even beyond the toilet bowl because the typical flushingaction employed to dispose of the waste in the bowl aerosolizes thewaste and attendant bacteria. In other words, when a toilet seat is leftopen, or even imperfectly sealed, flushing the toilet may cause some ofthe waste contained in the toilet bowl to vaporize, sprayingcontaminated water and particulate into the surrounding environment andon surfaces such as door knobs, faucet handles, and even toothbrushesregularly encountered by restroom occupants.

Many efforts to improve toilet sanitation have been made. For instance,some have proposed limiting a user's physical contact with portions ofthe toilet by, for example, providing detachable tabs formed as leversto forcibly lift a toilet seat without directly touching it. Examples ofthis include U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,032 to Janik. Others have developedmeans for enabling hands-free use of toilets such as by providingmotion-activated flushers, and foot pedal flushers are sometimespresented so that users can avoid touching portions of the toilet withtheir hands. Unfortunately, these proposals do not solve the problem ofunhygienic emissions unavoidably occurring with each flush. Even where auser avoids physically contacting the toilet, he or she may still be indanger of contacting contaminants that have aerodynamically transferredto various nearby surfaces.

Thus, some guards for blocking harmful emissions, including for example,over-sprayed bodily waste, from contaminating the area surrounding atoilet have also been suggested. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,760 toBrown et al. teaches a portable spray guard that adheres to an interiorportion of a toilet rim to protect surfaces adjacent to the toilet fromresidue sprayed therefrom; U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,589 to Rego et al.teaches a pleated web or accordion folded splash guard attachable to rimand seat portions of a toilet; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,914,757 to Johnsonteaches automatically closing a toilet lid when flushing a toilet via aretrofitable motor. Still, these solutions fail to fully obscure, block,or seal all openings present in their toilet seat assemblies. Thus,there is still a risk that aerosolized bodily waste can possibly exitthe toilet bowl, through uncovered gaps, and contaminate varioussurroundings. Additionally, each of these proposals fail to provide anaesthetically integrated and fully sealable solution to the problem ofunhygienic toilets.

As such, there remains a need for effectively sealing biological wasteand related contaminants within a toilet bowl.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is directed to a sealing toilet seat assemblyconfigured to prevent hazardous materials present in biological waste,especially vaporized particulate from fecal matter, from exiting gapsthat generally exist between toilet seats and their accompanying lids.

For purposes of summarizing, certain aspects, advantages, and novelfeatures have been described. It is to be understood that not all suchadvantages may be achieved in accordance with any one particularembodiment. Thus, the disclosed subject matter may be embodied orcarried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage orgroup of advantages without achieving all advantages as may be taught orsuggested.

In accordance with one embodiment, the toilet seat and lid assemblycomprises an annular toilet seat hingedly attached to a toilet seat lid.The seat and lid are pivotably securable to a rim portion of a toilet.More particularly, the seat may be defined by a supportive upper surfaceconfigured to support the weight of a sitting user, and a lower surfacewhich rests on the rim of the toilet, though it should be noted thattoilet seats may be upwardly pivoted to permit use of the toilet withoutthe seat obscuring a bowl portion of the toilet in any way. Thesupportive upper surface and lower surface of the seat may be spacedapart by an inner side and an outer side, wherein the inner side maydefine an opening for receiving biological waste therethrough.

Next, the lid, hingedly attachable to the annular toilet seat, isprovided which may be particularly characterized by an undersideconfigured to matedly seal, or plug, the opening in the toilet seat andthereby minimize the amount of toilet bowl content expelled from thebowl into the surrounding area and onto surrounding surfaces whenbiological waste within the toilet bowl is flushed. In an embodiment,the underside of the lid may comprise a channel, or concave groove,sized to receive the supportive upper surface of the annular toiletseat. Such channel may be defined by an outer edge of the toilet seat,and it is contemplated that providing a channel in this manner mayinsure that any gaps persisting between the seat and lid while in apivotally closed position may be obscured by said edge so thatcontaminated water vapor, undesirable particulate, and other wastecontained within the toilet bowl are prevented from escapingtherethrough.

The channel may be further defined by a male protrusion integrated onthe underside of the lid. Such male protrusion may be defined by a lowersurface and a side portion, and may be further sized to closely matewith the opening of the annular toilet seat.

To operate the hygienic assembly, user may hingedly pivot the lid, orthe seat and lid as the case may be, into an upward, open position toexpose the opening defined by the annular seat and interior of thetoilet bowl. Then, after discarding waste into the toilet bowl, butbefore flushing the toilet, the user may hingedly pivot any openportions of the assembly into a closed position, so that the maleprotrusion is mated with the opening in the annular toilet seat to sealor plug the assembly. This prevents aerosolized waste, water, andparticulate from exiting the bowl through the space that typicallypersists between such parts.

Various embodiments are contemplated for the lower surface of the maleprotrusion. For instance, in some embodiments, a ridge may be formedalong at least a portion of the lower surface of the male protrusion tofurther block contamination from exiting a toilet bowl through gapsbetween the toilet seat and lid. In another embodiment, segments of theside portion of the male protrusion may be inwardly angled to easeinsertion of the male member into the opening defined by the annulartoilet seat. One skilled in the art will thus recognize that theforegoing is offered by way of example only, and not of limitation.

One or more of the above-disclosed embodiments, in addition to certainalternatives, are provided in further detail below with reference to theattached figures. The disclosed subject matter is not, however, limitedto any particular embodiment disclosed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a hygienic toilet seat and lid assembly inaccordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective exploded view of a hygienic toilet seatand lid assembly in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a hygienic toilet seat and lidassembly in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a hygienic toilet seat and lidassembly in accordance with an alternative embodiment.

The disclosed embodiments may be better understood by referring to thefigures in the attached drawings, as provided below. The attachedfigures are provided as non-limiting examples for providing an enablingdescription of the method and system claimed. Attention is called to thefact, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typicalembodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered aslimiting of its scope. One skilled in the art will understand that theinvention may be practiced without some of the details included in orderto provide a thorough enabling description of such embodiments.Well-known structures and functions have not been shown or described indetail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the description of theembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Having summarized various aspects of the present disclosure, referencewill now be made in detail to that which is illustrated in the drawings.While the disclosure will be described in connection with thesedrawings, there is no intent to limit it to the embodiment orembodiments disclosed herein. Rather, the intent is to cover allalternatives, modifications and equivalents included within the spiritand scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

With reference to FIG. 1, a plan view exposing an underside of oneembodiment of the hygienic toilet seat and lid assembly 10 is shown inorder to generally illustrate sealing the assembly 10 to block bodilywaste and associated contaminants contemplated by this disclosure. Moreparticularly, the assembly 10 may comprise an annular toilet seat 12,such as any of those toilet seats commonly known in the art forsupporting a user thereon and receiving biological waste therethrough,and a lid 14, hingedly attached to the seat 12 along corresponding rearedges 16, for covering the seat 12 when not in use. The open, centerportion of the annular toilet seat 12 may then be fully sealed off, orplugged, by a male protrusion 18 that extends downwardly into theopening, which is here defined by an inner edge 20 of the seat 12 butotherwise obscured due to the presence of the male protrusion 18.

Turning to FIG. 2, elements comprising the toilet seat and lid assembly10 may be viewed in an exploded configuration and in combination with atoilet 30 for additional clarity. The annular seat 12, for instance, maybe defined by a supportive upper surface 22, upon which a user may sit,and a lower surface 24 which rests on top of and is pivotally securableto a rim 32 around a toilet bowl 34. Further defining the annular toiletseat 12, the supportive upper surface 22 and lower surface 24 may bespaced apart by an inner side portion 26 which defines the opening 28 inthe seat 12 for admitting biological waste to enter the toilet bowl 34for disposal, and an outer side portion 29.

Additionally, the lid 14, hingedly connected to the seat 12, maycomprise an underside 42 configured to matedly seal the opening 34 inthe seat 12 and minimize the amount of water, bacteria, bodily waste,and potential contaminants expelled from the bowl 34 into thesurrounding area and onto surrounding surfaces when flushed. Inparticular, the underside 42 of the lid 14 comprises in someembodiments, a concave channel 44 sized to overlap with and closelyreceive the supportive upper surface 22 of the annular toilet seat 12.The channel 44 may be defined by an outer edge 46 of the lid 14 spacedapart from the aforementioned male protrusion 18. Providing a channel inthis manner may insure a close seal to prevent debris, biological waste,contaminants, etc. from exiting a flushing toilet bowl 32 via anypossible gaps which may exist between the edge 46 of the lid 14 and sideportion 29 of the seat. However, it is also contemplated that thealternative to a channel 44 formed in the underside 42 of the lid 14,the underside 42 of the lid 14 may alternatively be flat, exceptingextension of the male protrusion 18, so that the underside 22 of the lid14 may contiguously rest along the upper supportive surface 28 of theannular seat 12, while the male protrusion 18 closely mates with theopening 34 in the seat 12.

Regardless of the particular shape of the underside 42 of the toiletseat 14, it is contemplated that the male protrusion 18 may comprise aside portion 48 formed to extend into the opening 28 defined by the seat12 and, when engaged in the closed position, also be contiguous with theinner side portion 26 of the seat 12. This may be seen, for example,with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, which illustrate a closed-off seal 36where the underside 42 of the lid 14 and supportive surface 22 of theseat 12 contiguously rest against one another. Of course, one skilled inthe art will recognize that the word “seal” is herein used to mean,generally, to shut, block, obscure, cover, plug or otherwise close offaccess to the contents of the toilet bowl 32, and forming an air tightseal is not necessary to practice the invention. One skilled in the artwill also recognize that when disposed over a toilet bowl, sealing, orplugging, any openings in the toilet seat, and also any gaps thattypically persist between toilet seats and lids and even between toiletseats and toilet rims in this manner, even if not air tight, willminimize or even wholly prevent biological waste and potentially harmfulcontaminants contained therein from being projected into nearby spacesand onto nearby surfaces when the toilet is flushed.

Returning to FIG. 2, to operate, a user may hingedly pivot the lid 14into an upward, open position to expose the opening 28 defined by theannular seat 12 and interior of the toilet bowl 34. If desired, a usermay also hingedly pivot the toilet seat 12 into an upward position toreveal the rim 32 defining an upper edge of the toilet bowl 34. Then,after use but before flushing the toilet, the user may hingedly pivotany open portions of the assembly 10 into a closed position, so that themale protrusion 18 is mated with the opening 28 in the annular toiletseat 12 to seal or plug the assembly 10 so that aerosolized waste,water, and particulate are prevented from exiting the bowl 34 throughthe space that typically persists between such parts.

It is further envisioned that one embodiment of the of the maleprotrusion 18 may comprise a low profile such that the lower surface 52would rest above the supportive surface 22 when the assembly 10 is inthe closed position. In this exemplary embodiment, the male protrusion18 may comprise a ridge which extends below the supportive surface 22while the the lower surface 52 of the male protrusion 18 remains aboveit.

With reference to the perspective view according to an embodiment of thehygienic toilet seat and lid assembly in FIG. 3, a lower surface 52 mayfurther define the male protrusion 18 and may be flat. Providing a flatlower surface 52 may inhibit growth and propagation of any bacteriacollected on the male protrusion 18 and also make cleaning the lid 12easy, as it has a smooth surface area, however, other shapes andtextures are contemplated as well.

In some embodiments, the lower surface 52 of the male protrusion 18 mayextend below the toilet seat to further obscure any potential space,though microscopic, that may be left between the protrusion 18 and inneredge 20 of the annular seat 12. In other embodiments, the lower surface52 of the male protrusion 18 may extend only as far as the lower surface24 of the annular seat 12 to define a smooth surface when the assemblyis closed. In still other embodiments, the lower surface 52 of the seatmay extend to some distance that extends, when the assembly 10 isclosed, below the supportive surface 22 but above the lower surface 24of the seat so that at least some depth defined by the side portion 29of the seat 12 is plugged. Thus, the particular height of the sideportion 48 of the male protrusion 18 is not determinative so long as itis able to plug or otherwise close off the opening 28 defined by theannular seat 12.

With reference to FIG. 4, an additional ridge 54 may optionally beformed along a portion of, or even the entirety of, the male protrusion18. Such ridge 54 may extend beyond the lower surface of the seat 12 toprevent undesirable material from entering any space between thecontiguous side portions of the seat 12 and lid 14.

Other configurations are contemplated for sealing, or plugging, thetoilet seat 12 in addition to easing use of the assembly 10. As one nonlimiting example and with reference again to FIG. 2, a front portion ofthe side 48 of the male protrusion 18, may be angled inward by someamount to easy opening and closing the lid 14 while avoiding frictionalor forcible interference with corresponding segments of the side portion26 of the seat 12. As another example, the lid 14, channel 44, and evenmale protrusion 18 may be formed as a single, integrated piece in orderto avoid cracks, seams, and crevices which might harbor bacteria, toease application of cleaning solutions to the lid 14, and even toimprove the aesthetic appearance of the lid 14. Of course, one skilledin the art will recognize that the foregoing are offered by way ofexample only, and not of limitation.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments are merelyexamples of possible implementations. Many variations and modificationsmay be made to the above-described embodiments without departing fromthe principles of the present disclosure. All such modifications andvariations are intended to be included herein within the scope of thisdisclosure and protected by the following claims.

Moreover, embodiments and limitations disclosed herein are not dedicatedto the public under the doctrine of dedication if the embodiments and/orlimitations: (1) are not expressly claimed in the claims; and (2) are orare potentially equivalents of express elements and/or limitations inthe claims under the doctrine of equivalents.

CONCLUSIONS, RAMIFICATIONS, AND SCOPE

While certain embodiments of the invention have been illustrated anddescribed, various modifications are contemplated and can be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Forexample, various components comprising the hygienic toilet seat andtoilet lid assembly may be made from any suitable material. Somematerials available for these parts may be polystyrene, blended wood andplastic, porcelain, clay, vitreous china, and plated metal, amongothers. Similarly, the hygienic toilet seat and toilet lid assembly mayround, oblong, elongated, or any other shape defined by any desirabledimensions. Accordingly, it is intended that the invention not belimited, except as by the appended claim(s).

The teachings disclosed herein may be applied to other systems, and maynot necessarily be limited to any described herein. The elements andacts of the various embodiments described above can be combined toprovide further embodiments. All of the above patents and applicationsand other references, including any that may be listed in accompanyingfiling papers, are incorporated herein by reference. Aspects of theinvention can be modified, if necessary, to employ the systems,functions and concepts of the various references described above toprovide yet further embodiments of the invention.

Particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspectsof the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology isbeing refined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics,features, or aspects of the hygienic toilet set and lid assembly withwhich that terminology is associated. In general, the terms used in thefollowing claims should not be constructed to limit the hygienic toiletset and lid assembly to the specific embodiments disclosed in thespecification unless the above description section explicitly definesuch terms. Accordingly, the actual scope encompasses not only thedisclosed embodiments, but also all equivalent ways of practicing orimplementing the disclosed apparatus. The above description ofembodiments of the hygienic toilet set and lid assembly is not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the precise form disclosed above or to aparticular field of usage.

While specific embodiments of, and examples for the apparatus aredescribed above for illustrative purposes, various equivalentmodifications are possible for which those skilled in the relevant artwill recognize.

While certain aspects of the apparatus disclosed are presented below inparticular claim forms, various aspects of the method, system, andapparatus are contemplated in any number of claim forms. Thus, theinventor reserves the right to add additional claims after filing theapplication to pursue such additional claim forms for other aspects ofthe hygienic toilet set and lid assembly.

1. A hygienic toilet seat and lid assembly for preventing contaminantsfrom exiting a flushing toilet bowl, comprising: an annular toilet seatdefined by a supportive upper surface and a lower surface, thesupportive upper surface and lower surface spaced apart by an inner sideand an outer side, the inner side defining an opening for receivingbiological waste therethrough; and a lid hingedly attachable to theannular toilet seat, the lid having an underside configured to matedlyseal the opening in the toilet seat and minimize the amount of toiletbowl content expelled from the bowl into the surrounding area and ontosurrounding surfaces when biological waste within the toilet bowl isflushed, and wherein the underside of the lid comprises a maleprotrusion defined by a lower surface and a side portion, the maleprotrusion sized to mate with the opening of the annular toilet seat;wherein the assembly is pivotally mountable to a top surface of a toiletbowl rim.
 2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the underside of the lidcomprises a channel defined by an outer edge, said channel sized toreceive the supportive upper surface of the annular toilet seat. 3.(canceled)
 4. The assembly of claim 1, wherein a ridge is formed alongat least a portion of the lower surface of the male protrusion.
 5. Atoilet seat and lid assembly pivotally mountable to a rim portion of atoilet bowl, comprising: an annular toilet seat defined by a supportiveupper surface and a lower surface, the supportive upper surface andlower surface spaced apart by an inner side and an outer side, the innerside defining an opening for receiving biological waste therethrough;and a lid hingedly attachable to the annular toilet seat, the lid havingan underside defined by an outer edge and a central male protrusionintegrated in the underside of the lid, the protrusion defined by alower surface and side portion, the side portion extending downwardly toclosely mate with the opening in the annular toilet seat to block toiletcontents from exiting the opening defined by the annular toilet seat. 6.The assembly of claim 5, further comprising a ridge disposed along atleast a portion of an edge of the lower surface of the male protrusion.